What?! A WEEK?!

[McCord6]

Quote:
Just a thought--if you raise enough birds to make even a small profit it will take a lot of hard work such as watering, feeding, and even shoveling all the bird poo and composting. Health care medications for the birds as well need to be considered and of course collecting and cleaning eggs (if they are to be sold). I wonder if all this is not going to be a problem with your brittle hips? I do believe it may make it worse so I'd ask your doctor before getting too far into this. I couldn't help but think of this as my mom had a new surgical procedure two years ago to basically rebuilt her hip and a large part of her pelvis--amazingly she did great!! In any case I wish you success in whatever you choose to do.

Good question. There are days that are good, and days that are bad but in my option, I always need something to look foward to doing. Im already getting up every morning, carrying a bucket full of Donkey feed to the pen, filling up his water, brushing him down and such, hubby is the one that takes care of cleaning the pen every day. I do the same for the dogs, they are fed 2x a day. Their pen are cleaned out daily too and water barrels are filled.

Yes, I need surgery but it is not going to happen anytime soon. I'm not 100% alone on this. My kids are going to learn the buisness as well. I believe it's good for them to learn
1) caring for animals
2) what it takes to make a buisness
3) hard work gets you where you want to be
Among many other reasons.

 

[Capone]

i say more power to ya. just do all your reserch and think ahead

 

[LittleMamaBigPapa]

Didn't read every single post so I apologize if I repeat, but yes, there is no money in chickens, at least not 10 of them and they won't start laying for 3-6 months. I'd suggest something like babysitting or doing odd jobs for people. Running errands for busy families can pay too!

God Bless you and hope you find something soon.

 

[SUNNYSIDE BROWNS]

I cannot work at all, rather pregnant or not, due to BADLY needed surgery on my hips (I have little to no cartilage between the joints of my hips which is causing my hips to wear out and the bones to briddle).




Chickens are alot of work if you want to make money on them you have to spend alot of time and money!!!! Lots of us have it bad.

 

[saddina]

Most of what I would've said has been covered but....

The price "reduction" makes me wonder. Do you know how to vent sex a chick? It's not a difficult skill to learn. Reason I'm asking, is if the guy you're buying from is selling them under $1 per bird, that makes me wonder if he's already seperated out his pullets (via vent sexing), and is now trying to offload his cockerals? There was another lady a few months back that bought something like 2,000 chickens for an egg laying business, and only 160-something were pullets (vent sexing is about 90% accurate usually). Let's just say I'm curious.

As for $45 a hen? nope not even in CA where everything costs extra, not for a normal laying hen, so unless he has uber show lines (which would make me thing he's getting rid of roos more), is that price realistic.

 

[thornoelle]

I know that a lot of posts have been negative here but it seems like you have done lots of research and have a reasonable amount of help. Also you aren't afraid of some hard work. I hope that your health problems don't impact your ability to follow through on this and I wish you all the best with your endeavors. Most people don't make money at this but that doesn't mean that it is impossible. I really hope that you manage to be one of the rare ones that does. Good luck!

 

[FenDruadin]

McCord--I pretty much agree with everything that has been said so far. However:

I also believe that just because others haven't done it, just because most people aren't doing it, just because it seems unlikely, doesn't mean *you* can't do it. Most people doing this as a hobby don't pare their expenses to the bare minimum, don't build *everything* out of salvaged materials, most at least occasionally splurge on "extra" stuff for their birds (even if it's just $5 for a plastic feeder instead of making yet another feeder out of scraps for free, or giving them unlimited access to store-bought feed instead of limiting it to encourage more foraging while shaving costs), and aren't treating the entire enterprise like a business.

There is quite a movement in our nation right now toward eating more local, sustainable foods. I think if you can capture the right market, can handle your business in a savvy way, and if luck goes your way... you might pull it off. I would say that more important than chicken knowledge is business savvy. If you've got that or can get it--and quick--you might make it work.

Of course, it's wise not to go into it all starry-eyed. I would take with a serious grain of salt what people are telling you about the prices they get for their birds. Do your calculations, and do them carefully, and do them so that you know what the minimum revenue can be to turn a profit, and base them on *conservative* estimates of what you can get for your birds. Don't forget to calculate for bird losses (which you *will* have, especially in your first year), for seasons of low price margins (like, apparently, right now), and a comfortable margin for the million things you won't know about until you've been doing this for a while.

And don't forget that if it seems impossible to eek another $5 out of your budget this week, some day you are going to need food for your children and food for your birds and only $10 to do it with. You need to have a cushion of some sort so you never have to make an agonizing decision. Also remember that just because RIRs are the "bird of the day" doesn't mean that they will still be popular when yours are old enough to start producing. Try not to get stuck on the tail end of a fad.

Now, onto the problem at hand. You need $5 in order to take advantage of the cheap availability of chicks now. I'm presuming you already have feed (for which you'll need about $12 for a start), brooding supplies, and bedding. If you desperately want this, and you think you're ready for it, you can probably eek $5 (or $10 or probably even $20) out pretty quick. Someone already suggested selling plasma--that sells for $20 around here, and can be sold every week ($80 a month for an hour's time once a week). What else can you sell for quick cash? Furniture you don't need (or don't want as badly as you want those chicks...)? Tools? Decorative items? Kitchen appliances you're not using? If you just want a quick few dollars, list them below the going price on craigslist, and you'll have cash in hand before the day is out tomorrow, probably. You said your kids are willing to help. How about if they wash the neighbor's cars for $4 each? Or mow the neighbor's lawns? Do odd jobs? Help with housework? Babysit? And then they can contribute the money to the "chicken fund."

That's the kind of resourcefulness and hard work you'll probably need out of your entire family to make this work.

But I'll bet you *can* do it. Most people want convenience, an easy life, and many are willing to pay for it--even those who raise poultry in their backyards (and yes, I'm one of those--blessed with a comfortable income right now--though I never forget that finances can change suddenly and dramatically even when you have been wise with your money--I buy feeders for my ducks and I buy expensive local foods at the farmer's market and I'll probably buy some birds and hatching eggs along the way too--). Find a good market, market *to* that market, put in your hours and your hard work and your resourcefulness, and you just might make it.

And, anyway, it'll be a fun ride regardless. You can always sell the flock if it doesn't work out (though of course you must be willing to accept that you will take a loss on the entire enterprise if you do that). Just be careful never to go into debt on account of your birds, as that would truly be putting your family's welfare on the line.

No one ever succeeds unless they try. And most people fail far more often than they succeed. But we keep trying, because success really is nothing more than trying one more time than you fail.

 

[Joyryder]

Good luck with your adventure. I supplement my flocks feed with "compost" material from the green grocer. Produce that can't be sold. They charge such high prices that anything that is less than perfect becomes compost material They are very happy that I pick it up, they hate throwing it away. And its organic too. Have your kids clean up "end of season" gardens for neighbors, my birds love it when I find fallen cherry tomatoes. You can also sprout left over seeds, Another good project for the kids.

 

[noitulover]

i can tell your mind is made up, so my personal opinions aside...

my fiance's grandfather had a fresh egg business about 30-40 years ago. he had over 8,000 chickens. he had to quit the business because he didn't want to get a refridgerated vehicle like the state was going to make him have (the times were changing)...

check into your local laws... they may require that for eggs to be sold, you must deliver them in a refridgerated vehicle. (laws like that don't get BACK to the way they used to be.. if anything, they get stricter)

 

[noitulover]

also, make sure you know about bird diseases and health issues. if you put money into the flock, make sure a simple case of coccidiosis doesn't take out your flock...

also, don't forget that chicks can't be put on newspaper or cedar shavings

make sure you have a proper brooder set up (plus, do you know if the chicks you are getting are pullets or straight run?, can you tell the difference between roosters and hens?, do you know if you are getting egg-layers or ornamental chicks?)

remember to put build your run out of 1/4" thick hardware cloth so even large determined dogs can't get in.

check the list of food that can't be fed to chickens (like onion)

there are always "unforeseens" with chickens, so be as prepared as you can be, but know that something WILL go wrong... be ready to handle whatever it is..

i would have a backup plan for catching chickens and cleaning out coops. if you've got bad hips, make sure your coop is one you can just walk into and just sweep out.... and don't have to step up into it.....

if i were you, and i know i'm not, i would apply for a secretary position somewhere to answer phones and file reports. this way you could get on a better insurance with the company and you could sit at a desk to make extra money...